Former Black Flag singer and Infiniti-ad voice-over artist Henry Rollins once said something to the effect of, “You see Iggy Pop play and you immediately get put into check.”

“What,” one might ask, “does Ypsilanti's own rock and roll lunatic have to do with the California Mille?” Well, one might think one knows a bit about cars. One might scan the blogs religiously. One might attend major auto shows. One might spend the majority of one's day yammering about automobiles with fellow gearheads.

But when one is faced with a field of prewar and immediately postwar European vehicles, one suddenly realizes, “Blimey, there are way more types of Ferrari 250 than I thought.”

Which is exactly what happened on day one of the California Mille. A celebration of phenomenal roads and glorious automobiles, the event also is a rolling history lesson--an event where, if one pays attention, there's more to absorb about the legacy of this industry than one could possibly fit into four days.

Enough, however, with the sensory overload. Allow us to stop worrying about the state of our own slipshod education and soak it all in.

And soak it in we certainly did. From the "explosionary" blat of a 1935 Lagonda's supercharged four-cylinder on Lombard Street, to the sighting of a Fontana-bodied 1951 Ferrari 212 Export somewhere between Sears Point and Vallejo, we relaxed and enjoyed.

Between Locke and Lodi, through the Central Valley's less-storied but highly productive wine country, we ran with a pack of Mercedes-Benz 300SLs. Past Daffodil Hill, we found ourselves sandwiched between a pair of Alfa Romeos, and we pulled into South Lake Tahoe behind a Jaguar XK wearing fender spats.

Upon our arrival in Incline Village, we caught up with folks we'd met along the way, swapped stories, made new acquaintances and plotted for tomorrow's loop of Western Nevada.